When I arrive at the office on Monday mornings and inquire about my co-workers’ weekends, I get the sneaking suspicion everyone is just reading out loud the thesaurus entry for “relaxing.”

“Oh, I just took it easy,” one seemingly well-rested colleague says. “Never left my apartment,” says another. “I took the chance to get caught up on sleep,” chimes in a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed third.

Caught up on sleep? What am I doing wrong here!? Never once in my life have I awoken on a Monday morning more revitalized than when I ended the week on Friday, with perhaps the exception of a single bed-ridden weekend during the summer of 2005 (thank you, freshman Ivies Weekend and subsequent Mononucleosis.) I may enter my weekends with honest intentions of logging two full nights of uninterrupted shuteye, but I invariably come out the other side yawning, puffy-eyed and clambering for the nearest coffee cart.

But I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. On the contrary: my whirlwind weekends may be jam-packed, but they’re fortunately equally awesome – and arguably good training for completing an exhausting 26.2 miles. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself as justification. It’s either science or wishful thinking, and I’m going with the former.

This past weekend was no exception. There may have been only 62 hours between closing time Friday and this morning’s return to the grind, but that didn’t stop me from squeezing in a Father’s Day brunch in Baltimore, 12 uninterrupted hours with my puppy niece and 14 brief innings at the Nationals/Yankees game in DC.

I even fit in a 5-miler in Virginia on Saturday and a two-a-day (2.5 morning miles in Baltimore and 4.5 evening miles in New York) on Sunday for good measure and/or to help burn off those $12 Nats Stadium tallboys. Two-a-days are supposed to be good practice for running in a pre-fatigued state, according to the experts, but I’m fairly certain performing when fatigued is not really something I need to practice.

Where did your weekend take you? If your name is Sarah, I know it took you down the aisle. So congratulations, gorgeous!

2 Responses to Rise and Shine

Please don’t post any more like this one. My envy is beginning to degrade into a facial tic and pre-tourettes. Your description of tallboys,freetime and two-a-days nearly made me quit my job and grad school simultaneously.